FIFA world cup 2014 Brazil

[NickStone]

How does one "tackle" in soccer if there is not a ball carrier?

Any player can tackle the opposing player who has the ball, and the only player than can legally carrier the ball (handle the ball) is the goal keeper and only within the 18 yard box and the ball hasn't been passed back to him from a player on the same team.

Next lesson: The offside rule

[Snowhog]

GreyGeek: See Introduction to Soccer Tackling (The Front Block Tackle)

[jlittle]

My 2¢. Approaching football (real football, involving feet a lot, known as soccer to older north Americans) from the perspective of gridiron is quite difficult, they're very different.
Almost anyone can play football and enjoy it; across the world many millions do. The rules are simple, anyone can learn them; I used to referee some of my son's games, and I was a bystander most of the time; 5 minutes might pass without having to blow the whistle. The game develops cardio fitness, players run a lot, and if play stops it usually restarts quickly. However, the unfit and fragile can play and have fun, It's not primarily a contact sport, and injuries are rare at an amateur level.
Rugby union, which I played at school, is a contact sport, and IMO is more fun to play. At my secondary school, boys only, there was a rule that you had to play rugby, a medical certificate was required to avoid it. Teams are weight graded. You get fit quickly, but blood and injuries are common. NZ can have 100,000 injuries on a single winter Saturday, mostly rugby. There's little of namby-pamby stopping play because someone gets tackled, you continue to fight for the ball, except that if the ball carrier goes to ground hands are not allowed, it's feet only. The rules have changed since I played to reduce the toll, but it still keeps going most of the time. The rules are very involved and no-one understands them, excepting the referees (only some of the time).
Rugby league, most popular in Australia, which I played when I was 8, begins to be like gridiron in that play stops on a tackle, and the team with the ball keeps it for six tackles, then has to punt. But play takes only a few seconds to continue, typically 3 or 4. Players run into each other all game long, they get tough. The rules are not as much a mystery as union, but the whistle is often heard.
With the possible exception of often used running backs, gridiron players would expend a small fraction of the energy used by rugby (or soccer) players, especially given that the same team plays all the time, and for longer (two 40 minute halves).
As spectator sports, gridiron is too slow, 60 minutes of clock time is spread over hours, and most of the clock time is between plays. Rugby union and league can be boring as teams slog away in the mud, but can equal gridiron for exciting play, which can be sustained for several minutes with union. Football can be nearly continuously engrossing, but there's not enough scoring; the goals should be bigger IMO.

Regards, John Little

[NickStone]

Soccer and North Americans - a "rant" by a North American

[GreyGeek]

What's really scary is that those people vote, which explains why the US is in the mess it is in now.

[NickStone]

What's really scary is that those people vote, which explains why the US is in the mess it is in now.

What's even more scary is that those same people are running around with guns.